Can-Am Race Report: GNCC Rd 2, TORN Rd 2
Bryan Buckhannon won his third straight 4×4 Open race to start the season.
Once again Can-Am 4×4 ATV racers dominated the morning race at the Steele Creek GNCC, not only winning all five classes, but sweeping every possible podium position. As well, JB Racing / Can-Am DS 450 Pro Jarrod McClure earned fifth in the XC1 ATV Pro class. At round two of the Texas Off-Road Nationals (TORN) in Paradise, Texas, Louis Powersports / Can-Am racer Cody Miller won the Pro ATV class and his teammate and Maverick 1000R X rs pilot Hunter Miller took second in the UTV Expert class.
“Our Can-Am ATV racers had a great Saturday at the Steele Creek GNCC in North Carolina, winning all five 4×4 classes and, once again, sweeping the morning 4×4 podium,” says Jimmie O’Dell, race manager, Can-Am. “Michael Swift notched his first U2 class win aboard the Renegade 800R X xc while defending 4×4 Open class champion Bryan Buckhannon remained undefeated in 2013.”
Michael Swift earned his first U2 class win of the season.
The U2 class featured a fierce battle between Can-Am Renegade 800R racers Michael Swift and class points leader Robert Smith. The two 4×4 racers exchanged the lead multiple times during the five-lap, two-hour race. The race came down to the final lap with Smith holding a narrow lead. However, a few lapped racers slowed Smith and let Swift (Team UXC / Can-Am X-Team) regain the top spot only a few miles from the finish. Swift earned his first U2 class win in 2013 and first 4×4 class victory since winning round three a year ago at Steele Creek. Third place went to Can-Am racer Jordan Phillips.
In the 4×4 Open class, Buckhannon took an early lead aboard his ATV Parts Plus / Can-Am X-Team 2013 Outlander 800R and never looked back. He crossed the finish line more than four minutes ahead of Tanner Bowles, who was second on a Can-Am. Buckhannon joined U2 class pilots Swift and Smith on the 4×4 overall morning podium. Bo Jones, also on Can-Am, rounded out the 4×4 Open class podium.
In 4×4 Lites action, defending champion Kevin Trantham and fellow Can-Am Outlander ATV racer Andrew Langston clashed early for the lead. However, Trantham won his second straight class victory. Can-Am Renegade 500 racer Michael Edwards was third.
Jarrod McClure overcame a bad start to salvage a fifth place finish at the Steele Creek GNCC.
Fourteen racers entered the 4×4 Senior class at Steele Creek. Can-Am racer Terry Whiteside won and was joined on the class podium by reigning class champion Forrest Whorton and, in third, fellow Can-Am racer Jerry Roberts. The 4×4 Novice class podium was also an all Can-Am affair. Joseph Sichelstiel notched his first win ahead of Nicholas Eichelberger and class points leader Ryan Smith.
Coming off his recent overall win in the AMA ATV Hare Scrambles National Championship Series, McClure (JB Racing / Can-Am) was hoping to carry over his momentum to the GNCC XC1 Pro class. Unfortunately, a bad start and another mishap slowed his chase for the podium and he had to settle for a very respectable fifth-place finish at Steele Creek.
Round four of the Amsoil GNCC series is Saturday, April 20, in Union, SC. It will include ATVs and, later in the day, the second round of the six-race side-by-side series.
Hunter Miller earned his first TORN podium in the Can-Am Maverick 1000R X rs.
Cody and Hunter Miller (Louis Powersports / Can-Am) had a good weekend at round two of TORN at Legacy Farms in Paradise, Texas. In the Pro ATV class, Cody won by more than 30 seconds to improve to 2-for-2 on the season is the class points leader with his DS 450 ATV. Hunter, who overcame a mechanical issue that delayed him for more than seven minutes, battled back to finish in third in the Pro ATV class.
In the UTV Expert class, Hunter finished all 10 laps and took second overall for his first TORN podium with the Can-Am Maverick 1000R X rs side-by-side. Cody, who challenged for the lead all day, had the lead on the final lap before a mechanical knocked him out of the race. He ended up fifth. The 2013 TORN series returns, April 27-28, for round three at Legacy Farms.
I have been working exclusively in digital media since 1997. I started out with TSN.ca, spending nearly nine years creating and editing content on Canada's leading sports website. I left to join VerticalScope, Inc., one of the world's largest online publishers, to start a number of powersports publications. While at VerticalScope, I've helped create and oversee content for a wide variety of different publications, including ATV.com, Off-Road.com, ArcheryTalk.com, Tractor.com, RVGuide.com, and many more.
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